In conversation with Dinesh Patidar, Chairman & Managing Director, Shakti Pumps India Ltd

The Indian pump industry offers excellent growth opportunities for international collaborations.

The pump market in India by revenue is expected to grow at a CAGR of over 7 per cent during the period 2021–2026 and the demand may be due to the increasing application of pumps in several end-user sectors, says Dinesh Patidar, Chairman and Managing Director, Shakti Pumps India Ltd.  

What is your outlook on the Indian pump industry?  

My outlook is very positive, quite promising. I am quite hopeful about the future of the pumping solution industry. The Indian pump industry offers excellent growth opportunities for international collaborations. Indian pumps are exported to more than 100 countries. According to a report, the Indian pump market was worth over Rs 13,500 crore i.e. USD 18 billion in 2020. With over 800 pump manufacturers, our country manufactures more than a million pumps every year. Agriculture and building services comprise 46 per cent of the market by value of Rs 3,910 crore. This segment of the Indian pump market is highly fragmented as well as competitive with a large number of small and medium enterprises competing to increase their market share. The biggest markets for agricultural pump sets are the central Indian states of Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.  

The industrial sector comprises the remaining 54 per cent of the market by value of Rs 4,590 crore. This segment of the Indian pump market consists of sectors like water and sewage treatment, power generation, oil and gas, metals and mining and others. Being technologically intensive, it is a relatively hard sector for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to penetrate. Energy-efficient pumps, solar pumps, agricultural sector pumps, centrifugal pumps and special submersible pumps are likely to contribute to the growth of the pump market in India during the forecast period. The pump market in India by revenue is expected to grow at a CAGR of over 7 per cent during the period 2021–2026. The demand for pumps is expected to grow at a steady rate due to the increasing application of pumps in several end-user sectors.  

How has the pandemic affected the Indian pump industry?  

I am quite hopeful that despite the odds the overall pump market in India would grow at a CAGR of over 7 per cent in the next five years. In the first wave of the pandemic the lockdown added stress to the industry, bringing almost everything to a standstill. Because people are the most important stakeholders in the manufacturing sector, the illness of the workers was one of the big challenges in the last 100 days. Things are coming back to normalcy and we are quite confident that with the new normal in place, business would be as usual very soon.  

Do you expect the PM-KUSUM scheme to continue giving attractive results in FY 2021-22 as it gave in FY 2020-21?  

Yes, I certainly expect the PM-KUSUM scheme to give attractive results this year as well. In fact, if the going is good, we expect better numbers this year. The last year was a kind of pilot project and more and more farmers need such solutions which will make them less dependent on electricity. Last year we had installed 15,000 pumps in the scheme and this year the expectation is to get tenders of approximately 60,000 to 70,000 pumps.  

Going forward, how do you expect the demand for solar water pumps?  

Solar pumps have a great future because practically there is no fuel cost as it uses the available free sunlight. Solar pumps have long operating life with high reliability and durability. The eco-friendly solution actually helps in saving heavy recurrent expenses. On the other side, diesel pumps are unviable for farmers and electric pumps have limitations. It can be understood from a simple comparison: the government has to make an investment of Rs 80 per watt for power generation and transmission whereas the solar power generation units cost only Rs 50 per watt. Not only this, power generation and distribution have huge maintenance cost, whereas in case of solar it’s almost zero. Thus, we can say that solar is beneficial for everyone, be it power generation companies i.e. the government public sector units, farmers and the environment.  

What are your three main strategic objectives?  

We are not sure if the pandemic is over or if there are more waves left. Keeping the safety of our team will of course be our top priority. We shall do whatever is required to keep the lives of the people of our company above everything. The second key objective is performance and productivity and to sustain and strive for growth. We shall be working hard to achieve the targets set for growth in international marketing and efficiency improvement in our operations. The last and the key strategic objective shall be research and development. We shall continue to see this as our key factor in the future.